Law Commons^™

Paying The Price For Our Children’S Torts: Exploring Parental Liability Statutes Employed In The South, John Kevin Phillips

ExpressO

The accompanying manuscript explores the historical foundations for the common law imposition of liability upon parents for their child’s torts. The manuscript explores the adoption of the common law rules by Southern states with the exception of Louisiana and illustrates the different approaches employed in the common law versus the civil code. The manuscript then explores the growth of parental liability statutes and the alarming trend towards raising the amount of compensation even to unlimited liability coupled with almost strict liability in some Southern states.

Parental liability statutes continue to grow in importance and controversy. The present manuscript is especially …

Predicting Death In Young Offenders: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Carolyn Coffey, Rory Wolfe, Andrew W. Lovett, Paul Moran, Eileen Cini, George C. Patton

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Objective: To examine predictors of death in young offenders who have received a custodial sentence using data routinely collected by juvenile justice services.

Design: A retrospective cohort of 2849 (2625 male) 11–20-year-olds receiving their first custodial sentence between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 1999 was identified. Main outcome measures: Deaths, date and primary cause of death ascertained from study commencement to 1 March 2003 by data-matching with the National Death Index; measures comprising year of and age at admission, sex, offence profile, any drug offence, multiple admissions and ethnic and Indigenous status, obtained from departmental records.

Results: Theoverallmortalityratewas7.2deathsper1000person-yearsofobservation. Younger …

Family And Juvenile Law, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Does The Tax Law Discriminate Against The Majority Of American Children: The Downside Of Our Progressive Rate Structure And Unbalanced Incentives For Higher Education?, Lester B. Snyder

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

Our graduate income tax structure provides an incentive to shift income to lower-bracket family members. However, some parents have much more latitude to shift income to their children than do others. Income derived from services and private business-by far the majority of American income-is less favored than income derived from publicly traded securities. The rationale given for this discrimination is that parents in services or private business, as opposed to those in securities, do not actually part with control of their property. This article explores these tax broader (yet subtle) tax benefits and their impact on the majority of children …

Section 1: Moot Court, Roper V. Simmons, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

The Rave Act: A Specious Solution To The Serious Problem Of Increased Ecstasy Distribution Within The United States That Is Unconstitutionally Overbroad, Erin Treacy

ExpressO

The RAVE Act amends the 1986 "Crackhouse Statute" on the assumption that electronic music concerts are comparable to crackhouses. This article submits that the rationale behind the former Crackhouse statute does not logically support the RAVE Act and that the new law, as enacted, is unconstitutionally overbroad, infringing upon First Amendment rights. This article shows that the “rave culture,” its associated drug use and electronic music performances (sometimes known as raves) are not inextricably linked. The article also explores policy arguments that may be asserted against the RAVE Act and provides suggestions on how to amend the existing statute to …

Scarlet Letter Punishment For Juveniles: Rehabilitation Through Humiliation?, Bonnie Mangum Braudway

Campbell Law Review

This comment begins by discussing the historical development of the juvenile justice system and society's use of shaming penalties. In Section III, it will point out the dangers of using shaming penalties on juvenile offenders. Section IV will explore how the highest courts in two major jurisdictions may handle an appeal from a fictional juvenile sentenced to a shaming punishment. Finally, the comment will discuss possible improvements in the juvenile justice system.

Trends In The Murder Of Juveniles: 1980-2000, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Uneasy Tensions Between Children's Rights And Civil Rights, Annette Ruth Appell

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Achieving Batterer Accountability In The Child Protection System, Leigh Goodmark

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Successful Program Implementation: Lessons From Blueprints, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

“Which One Of You Did It?” Criminal Liability For “Causing Or Allowing” The Death Of A Child, Lissa Griffin

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Prostitution Of Juveniles: Patterns From Nibrs, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Detection And Prevalence Of Substance Use Among Juvenile Detainees, Us Department Of Justice

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Capital Jurors As The Litmus Test Of Community Conscience For The Juvenile Death Penalty, Michael E. Antonio, Benjamin Fleury-Steiner, Valerie P. Hans, William J. Bowers

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This fall, the United States Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty in Simmons v. Roper. The Eighth Amendment issue before the Court in Simmons will be whether the juvenile death penalty accords with the conscience of the community. This article presents evidence that bears directly on the conscience of the community in juvenile capital cases as revealed through extensive in-depth interviews with jurors who made the critical life-or-death decision in such cases. The data come from the Capital Jury Project, a national study of the exercise of sentencing discretion in capital cases conducted with …

Too Young For The Death Penalty: An Empirical Examination Of Community Conscience And The Juvenile Death Penalty From The Perspective Of Capital Jurors, William J. Bowers, Benjamin Fleury-Steiner, Valerie P. Hans, Michael E. Antonio

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

As our analysis of jury decisionmaking in juvenile capital trials was nearing completion, the Missouri Supreme Court declared the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional in Simmons v. Roper. The court held that the execution of persons younger than eighteen years of age at the time of their crime violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. This decision patently rejected the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Stanford v. Kentucky, which permitted the execution of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. In deciding Simmons, the Missouri Supreme Court applied the U.S. Supreme Court's reasoning in Atkins v. Virginia to …

Foster Care Placement: Reducing The Risk Of Sibling Incest, David J. Herring

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Westermarck theory maintains that incest avoidance arises from the physical proximity of siblings during a critical period of early childhood. This proximity gives rise to an inhibiting effect on post childhood sexual interest. Two recent studies of sibling relationships have verified and refined the Westermarck theory, indicating that the critical period extends through the first four years of childhood. The theory and the studies have implications for child welfare laws, policies and practices surrounding the placement of siblings in foster care. Namely, the findings provide powerful reasons for placing siblings together during the critical period in order to minimize …

Sex And The Workplace: "Consenting" Adolescents And A Conflict Of Laws, Jennifer Ann Drobac

Washington Law Review

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sexual harassment of adolescents at work may constitute a serious, but to date largely undocumented, problem. Courts respond inconsistently to adolescent "consent" in sexual harassment employment cases. This Article reviews state criminal statutory rape law, federal civil law, and tort law to reveal the conflicting legal treatment of adolescent capacity to consent to sex. It highlights conflicts not only between the criminal and civil systems, but also between sister states' laws and laws within states. For example, this Article finds that despite criminal sexual abuse laws, courts permitted employers to use adolescent "consent" …

International Child Abductions: The Challenges Facing America , Charles F. Hall

ExpressO

International child abductors often escape domestic law enforcement and disappear without consequence or resolution. International child abductions occur too frequently; in the United States alone, the number of children abducted abroad every year has risen to over 1,000. Currently, 11,000 American children live abroad with their abductors. These abductions occur despite international treaties and the Congressional resolutions that have significantly stiffened the penalties for those caught. Effectively combating international child abductions requires drafting resolutions that are acceptable across the diverse societies and cultures of the international community. Without such resolutions to fill the gaps of current treaties this problem will …

The Speech-Enhancing Effect Of Internet Regulation, Emily Buss

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In this Article, the author suggests that certain speech-reducing regulations will, in fact, be speech-enhancing for children. This is because children are vulnerable to far greater censorship at the hands of their parents than at the hands of Internet regulators. Regulations that inspire parents to relax their grip on their children's access to information are likely to produce significant net speech gains for children. Viewed this way, regulations designed to protect children can be conceived as pitting the speech interests of adults against the speech interests of children. The Article suggests a number of reasons we might value the children's …

When Well-Being Trumps Liberty: Political Theory, Jurisprudence, And Children's Rights, William Galston

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Compared to most adults, children are dependent and vulnerable and therefore require special protection. Efforts to safeguard their well-being often collide with one or more of the liberty guarantees of the First Amendment. Professor Etzioni fears that current jurisprudence has tipped the balance too far towards individual liberty, making it difficult to extend children the legal protection they need. Drawing on a theoretical account of constitutionalism as well as existing case law, the author argues that mainstream jurisprudence is up to the task of balancing the well-being of children against the liberty of adults. The Supreme Court's recent decision in …

On Protecting Children From Speech, Amitai Etzioni

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Are children entitled to the same First Amendment rights as adults? This Article explores the constitutionality of limiting children's access to objectionable materials assuming that both free speech rights and the protection of children are two core values that, like all other social values, must be balanced. When used to assess specific court cases and public policies, the balancing principle is a helpful guide in determining whether voluntary or incentives-based programs are sufficient to remedy the problems at hand or whether government regulation of free speech is necessary. The Article analyzes five court cases involving Internet filters in libraries, the …

The Liberal Theory Of Freedom Of Expression For Children, Colin M. Macleod

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article develops a liberal theory of freedom of expression which is sensitive to the interests of children as distinct, vulnerable but developing members of society. I argue that children have, in addition to welfare interests, interests in the development and exercise of basic moral powers. In virtue of such interests, children acquire, well before they become adults, nontrivial rights of free expression. Respecting children's rights to free expression entails limits on the prerogatives of parents and others to determine the sorts of cultural materials children should be permitted access. Nonetheless children's rights are importantly different from those of adults. …

Free Speech And Children's Interests, David Archard

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article endorses the conclusion of Etzioni's article that the First Amendment right of free speech should not trump the interests of children. However the picture is more complicated once we recognize that parents have a "basic" right to bring up their children as they see fit that may conflict with the state's duty to protect children in its jurisdiction.

Moreover there is an important difference between protecting children now from harms and safeguarding the interests of the adults they will grow into. Society has an interest in protecting children based upon its fundamental interest in ensuring the conditions of …

Toward A Constitutional Regulation Of Minors' Access To Harmful Internet Speech, Dawn C. Nunziato

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In this Article, Prof. Nunziato scrutinizes Congress's recent efforts to regulate access to sexually-themed Internet speech. The first such effort, embodied in the Communications Decency Act, failed to take into account the Supreme Court's carefully-honed obscenity and obscenity-for-minors jurisprudence. The second, embodied in the Child Online Protection Act, attended carefully to Supreme Court precedent, but failed to account for the geographic variability in definitions of obscene speech. Finally, the recently-enacted Children's Internet Protection Act apparently remedies the constitutional deficiencies identified in these two prior legislative efforts, but runs the risk of being implemented in a manner that fails to protect …

Shielding Children: The European Way, Michael D. Birnhack, Jacob H. Rowbottom

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Internet crosses physical borders, and carries with it both its promises and its harms to many different countries and societies. These countries thus share the same technology, but they do not necessarily share the same set of values or legal system. This Article compares the legal response in the United States and in Europe to one important issue: the exposure of children to certain materials, which are deemed harmful to them but not harmful to adults.

This US-European comparison, in which the experience in the United Kingdom serves as a leading example, illustrates the traits of various kinds of …

On Protecting Children—From Censorship: A Reply To Amitai Etzioni, Marjorie Heins

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Etzioni's argument for censorship of minors ignores the fundamental problem with Internet filters, misstates the results of media-effects research, and uses emotional terms like "protection" and "harm" to mask moral judgments about what is appropriate for youth.

Given the size and constantly changing character of the Internet, filters necessarily rely on key words and phrases. As a result, thousands of valuable Web pages are mistakenly blocked by filters, even at their narrowest settings. The problem is inherent in the system.

Most media-effects studies do not show a causal link between violent content and violent (or "aggressive") behavior. The studies that …

The Need For A Two (Or More) Tiered First Amendment To Provide For The Protection Of Children, Kevin W. Saunders

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Article addresses the two sorts of problems raised by Professor Etzioni, while also responding to the earlier articles in this Symposium. With regard to the spillover effect, the author argues that there are ways to limit the effect on adults of restrictions designed to protect children, even on the Internet. Furthermore, some spillover effect is allowed and may leave open the possibility of protecting children from tobacco or alcohol advertisements. The Article also addresses areas in which material has been seen as protected even for children. While agreeing that depictions of violence pose an important problem, the Article also …

Response, Amitai Etzioni

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Daddy Doesn't Want To Be Daddy Anymore: An Argument Against Paternity Fraud Claims, Melanie B. Jacobs

ExpressO

No abstract provided.